American INsecurity

What is wrong with these gun toting, authority abusing American law enforcement?

Firstly, here's a sad story of a man shooting an unarmed 14 year old hiding in a shed. From Courthouse News Service:

SAN ANTONIO (CN) - A 14-year-old boy got into a fight at a school bus stop and the school district's police officer responded by shooting him to death, the boy's mother says. She says the cop had been reprimanded 16 times in the previous 4 years, suspended without pay 5 times, and "recommended for termination for insubordination," but the school kept him on the force "without remedial training."
[...]

"Ignoring his supervisor's orders to 'stay with the victim and get the information from him,' Alvarado placed the second boy into the patrol car and sped into the neighborhood to search for Derek."
Lopez says her son jumped over a fence and hid in a shed in the back yard of a house. The homeowner saw him, called 911, and alerted a neighbor, who pointed Alvarado in Derek's direction. Lopez says her son never left the shed, never approached the house or threatened the homeowner or her daughters, and posed no threat to anyone.
Nonetheless, she says: "In violation of NISD police department procedures, Alvarado drew his weapon immediately after exiting the patrol car. With his gun drawn, he rushed through the gate and into the back yard. Within seconds from arriving at the residence, Alvarado shot and killed the unarmed boy hiding in the shed."

Then there is this little gem of casual police brutality and indifference, also from Courthouse News Service

A man who was eating a taco at a Raleigh bus stop says a cop swept-kicked him to the ground, broke his leg and arrested him, then hauled him before a judge who sentenced him to 30 days in jail for contempt, because he could not stand on his broken leg.

Here are the best bits from the article:

• The cop (Rolling) asked the man (artis) if a beer was his. Artis says he told Rollins, "'Why, Officer, if that beer were mine, I would be enjoying it with my meal.'" And he resumed eating his taco.
• Rollins grabbed Artis by his still taco-laden arm, and spun Artis around with great force, which pivoted Artis on his left leg which "sent the hapless taco flying" and also broke his left leg in the process.
• Artis was taken to the Wake County Detention Center, where, unable to get out of the car on his own, and at his own insistence, he was put into a wheelchair. He was charged with "misdemeanor open container malt beverage and disorderly conduct," then wheeled before a magistrate at 10:10 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2010.
• Artis told the judge that "he could not stand because his leg was broken." He was "in serious and intense pain because of his shattered leg, was confused as to why he had been arrested, was extremely frustrated by the heckling, that no one believed he was seriously hurt, and that he was not getting urgently needed medical attention."
• It took Magistrate Bostrom 4 minutes to find Artis in contempt of court and sentence him to 30 days in jail, with no bond, Artis said. Eleven minutes later, Bostrom agreed to set bond at $1,000, according to the complaint.
• Artis spent the night in jail without medical attention and, says that "he had to urinate on the floor where he lay" because jailers would not bring him a wheelchair. Nearly 12 hours after he was arrested, a nurse finally inspected his leg and had him sent immediately to a hospital emergency room.
• Artis had pins inserted in his leg and "awoke from surgery to find his belongings next to his hospital bed and a nurse informed him that he was no longer in custody."
• He says that Officer Rollins refused to testify at the trial and all charges were dropped, "with a note in the file stating that 'Rollins said he will not testify b/c he does not recall incident.'

Finally, here is another doozy, from the Chicago Tribune:

The attorney for a family suing Chicago Public Schools over the alleged handcuffing of a first-grader in 2010 said Tuesday that the boy was among several 6- and 7-year-olds who were detained and handcuffed for hours for talking in class.
In an email to the Tribune, attorney Michael Carin said school officials at Carver Primary School on the Far South Side authorized the on-campus security guard in March 2010 to discipline some first-graders who were being disruptive.
[...]
Carin said the school's security officer removed the students from class and held them in another office on campus where there were no other adults present. Carin said the students were handcuffed for hours and told that "they were going to prison and would never see their parents again."

What is wrong in the US?